Floored

Over the weekend, Shane and I laid the new wood laminate floor in our kitchen/dining room. By new, I mean it had never been installed. But it wasn't actually new, since we bought the supplies a couple of years ago when we bought the back door. Like I mentioned before, things get a done around here but it can take a while sometimes.

We started around 9:30 on Saturday morning. It took us about an hour to move appliances and furniture in to our living room. It looked like a flea market or some used furniture stores I've been in.

The demo work started around 10:30. Here is our old floor:

It was in pretty good shape, but had two qualities I didn't like. It showed every speck of dirty and drop of a spill, and it only looked good if I cleaned it by hand, buffing it dry as I did. It didn't matter what I used to clean it, if I didn't buff it out, it looked streaky and felt sticky. Of course, having to hand-mop it meant that I didn't clean it as often as I should have.

But the real reason we ripped out the old floor was because our old sliding patio door had leaked and caused water damage to the first couple of feet of flooring in front of the door. In this pic, you can see the floorboards had warped and lifted, and we had screws in them to try to hold them down. The board farthest to the right is chipped, too.

We knew the brand of the floor, but were unable to match it because it was an older style. We tried to save the good parts of the old floor as we took it up, but the slats had been glued together per old-school installation practices, so it came up in broken pieces. Oh, well -- we tried.

Underneath, we found vinyl. Looks like a 1980s pattern to me. It was in surprisingly good shape, but not our style.

It was 11:30 or so when we started the de-squeaking phase. Close examination in the basement revealed that hardwoods were under the dining room side of the room, while the kitchen had plywood sub-flooring. We aren't sure if it was always that way, or if the kitchen floor had been replaced. In any case, all but one squeak was in the old hardwoods.

To eliminate them, we located each squeak by foot, then Shane sunk screws through the vinyl and into the hardwood in the general area until the noise was gone. Some areas needed just 1-2 screws, while other squeaks needed many.

De-squeaking took a couple of hours, at least. Normal people would have stopped for lunch right about now, but we worked through.

We put down the underlayment, then began laying the floor boards at around 1:30. We started at the back door and worked our way in, cutting boards at the end of each row, and cutting in around cabinets and the niches where the stove and fridge sit. The first few rows were slow going, but we found our groove toward mid-floor, and were experts by the time we reached the inside wall.

Still, with all the cuts, this was a time consuming job. The last board went down at 9:00 p.m. We promptly changed clothes and rushed out the door before the restaurants closed. Fajitas and margaritas hit the spot!

I guess we could have stopped there, but when we got back at 10:30, we swept up the sawdust and mopped, then moved the appliances and furniture back in. I was so happy to see that I could use a stick mop similar to an overgrown Swiffer and have a clean, streak-free, non-sticky floor!

Here is the finished product:

Okay, so it's not a dramatic change, but it's a nice one for us.  Just being able to mop the floor from a standing position will make my life so much easier!

We finished up the day's work and headed to bed around 11:30 or so. Sunday we moved all the small stuff back in (plants, small appliances, etc.) and cleaned the living room and vacuumed up the sawdust in the garage, where all of the cutting had taken place.

We went to the home improvement stores and bought the new door trim and baseboard that we decided needs to be updated as well, but Shane had no time (or energy) to attach those. He's out of town this week, so the trim will have to wait a while, but hopefully not a year or two.

The Finally-Finished Door

Some of you may remember us replacing our nasty old sliding patio door with a new wood-framed door with operating side lights.  You can read about it and see the pictures here.

It remained the Not-Quite-Done Door for more than a year.  Exactly nothing else happened with it until this past week, when Shane finally found the time and inspiration at the same time to finish the project.  He added the surrounding trim, stained the wood, lacquered it, and even touched up the aqua paint above the door (and in other places around room). 

It looks great now, and it's nice to finally mark it off our to-do list as completed. No, make that completely completed.  Now all that's left to do in the kitchen/dining room is the new floor.  We have the supplies, so it's another matter of time and inspiration coinciding.

Taping off.

See the small piece of blue tape near the top of
the window?  Swiper's getting ready to swipe it.

Finished!

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While we were at the home improvement store buying lacquer and a quart of paint to match the walls, we started looking at a product called Deck Restore by a company called Synta.  It's a "liquid armor resurfacer".  It's similar to the Rhino Linings for truck beds, only it's for decks and/or concrete. 

We looked at the information in store and had nearly decided it would be a good addition to our deck for a number of reasons.  About that time, a salesman (not on commission, BTW) walked up to us and told us how great a product he thinks it is and answered a lot of questions we had based on his experience with it at his home.  In the middle of our conversation, a customer passing by interupted to say, "That stuff is amazing! It's just simply amazing!"

Our only questions now are what color we want, and when we'll have the time to apply it.

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My apologies for not taking time to comment on your blogs, if I get to them at all, and for not being around on my Facebook page very often this past week.  That goes for the foreseeable future, too. We have several "projects" going on here and my online presence hasn't been a top priority.  I hope you'll bear with me; things will surely return to what we call normal sooner or later.

Settling Back In

We had a very nice spring break last week, but whew! -- I'm glad to get back to some usual routines this week.  Kat is back to school, Shane is working out of town 4 days a week, which has become almost "normal" for us, and winter appears to finally be settling down into spring.  Here are a few highlights from the weekend:

Kat was with her mom and step-dad for the weekend, and they took in a special Doctor Who event at a local theater.

Kat, my son-in-law M, and friends.

Meanwhile, Shane did some work on our back deck - by himself on Saturday and with my dad's help on Sunday.  The condensed story is that we had a deck, we removed the railings to put up a sun room.  We decided against the sun room in favor of building a larger deck, then we decided against the idea of a larger deck and in favor of just putting the railings back up. 

Of course, the original railings were long gone, we we had to buy new lumber.   We used some extra fence pickets to put a privacy wall at one end of the deck.  We'll be the first to admit our own yard is pretty junky looking right now, but our neighbor's yard on that side is a real eyesore with a shed that is falling in on itself and a trampoline that is hanging in shreds.  We'd rather not see it, and we'd rather not have their dog go into a barking frenzy every time we step out onto the deck, so the privacy wall helps with both of those issues.  Looks pretty nice, too, if you ask me.

Our deck is a tall one, 6-7 feet above ground level, so we still need to buy siding of some sort to underskirt it, and of course we need to stain and seal the new lumber, but this is a nice start.

While the guys worked on the deck, I managed to fix breakfast for us, do several loads of laundry, and prep and plant one of the raised beds with snow peas and onions.  We ended the weekend with a nice meal out with my dad and some friends.

I have a full week planned.  I plan to back outside to plant more of our raised beds, make a batch of soap, complete my menu plan for April, return to my M-W-F blogging schedule, and possibly start my next craft project.

What is on your schedule for this week?

Back To Baking

You might remember this post, where I talked about how we'd keep our ugly, old gas range until it quit working.  If you follow Haphazard Homestead on Facebook you might also remember me mentioned a few weeks ago that my oven wasn't working right. 

Over the weeks, the oven got worse.  Last Thursday, for example, I turned it on to 350°F and it went to 350°, so I put my food in.  After half an hour, I thought it was odd that there weren't any good smells coming from the oven, so I peeped in and saw the temp was around 165°.  So I turned it off, turned it back on, again to 350°.  It shot up to around 400°.  Somehow I managed to get supper made without either burning it or serving it undercooked.  But I was done messing around.

Our options were:
- to have someone fix it (rough estimates were around $250),
- fix it ourselves with only a guess that the problem was the thermostat (parts were from $50-$150),
- buy new (low-end basic model was around $400),
- or buy used. 

We decided to check craigslist to see what was available in a used gas range and found this beauty for just $100.  It's 10 years old, but it looks like new!  Did I mention it's self-cleaning?  Or that it has a power burner and a simmer burner?

It was 50 miles from home, but Shane happened to be working just a few miles from where the stove was, so he was able to save us an extra trip by picking it up after work on Friday.  It had been installed to burn propane gas, so we had to convert it back to natural gas with manufacturer's directions that the owners had saved.  The only snag was that the fittings for the gas line weren't the same size as our old range, so Shane had to spend another $25 for a universal kit to get it hooked up.

$125 for a range in this condition is a bargain, no matter how you look at it.  Our plan for the old stove is to move it to our basement and set up a canning kitchen.  We'll see if that really happens or not - we've had lots of plans for the basement over the years and it's still just a basement.

Meanwhile, I have some baking to do.

Not-Quite-Done Door

Our new back door project is almost done.  Shane put the trim up today.  What remains to be done is staining the wood trim, touching up the wall paint where we took down the vertical blind, and deciding on window treatment. 

The plan is to buy and install the add-on mini-blinds that are encased in glass, that can be tilted or raised with the touch of a lever.  That will go on the center (main) door.  For the sidelights I'm considering lace panels stretched from top to bottom and cinched in the middle.  They'll let in light without affording much of a view into the house.

A related project will be replacing the kitchen floor that was damaged because of the old door leaking.  Shane's going to take a break before tackling that.

Anyway, since SonyaAnn and I love before and after pics, here they are.  Try not to get too disgusted with the old door photos.  I tried to keep up, but once I knew we were getting the new door, I gave up instead.

Daylight and cold air coming in around sliding door.

We used a board to wedge the door shut to stop some of the heat loss.

Nasty mildew on the stationary side of the sliding door.  Once I knew we were getting a new door I quit trying to keep up with cleaning this. 
Disgusting to look at and disgusting to deal with.

View of the old door from the back yard. 
A deck remodel is in the works, too, sometime.

Another view of the old door from the back steps.

The "crew" making adjustments after taking the old door out. 
The new door was about 6 inches wider than the opening.

Looks like the new door is going in, but no...

It was dark by the time they finally got it set and leveled.

Not the best time of day for a pic, but you get the idea.  Stain will be
a pecan color, similar to that hutch on the left. The sidelights are
screened and will open to let the breeze in.

New back door from back steps.

New door from back yard.  It would look sharp with a new deck (hint, hint).

Hey, we got a new light fixture, too!

So, there you have it.  It's done enough for now.  We're headed out of town for the weekend for a little fun.  Hope you have a good weekend; I'll be back on Monday.

We Interupt Our Regularly Scheduled Home Improvement...

...for this bird house project.

Kat built this birdhouse on a field trip to Gorman Conservation Discovery Center yesterday.  She and Shane put it up when she got home.

I promise to get back to regular posting soon.  This week has just been completely ǝpısdn uʍop for me!

Ah...The Great Outdoors!

Or maybe I should say, AAGHH!!!

We've still got our hands full with this door project, but at least it doesn't look like this anymore.  They got the new door in just before dark last night.

I'll post again when I get a chance.

Monday Thoughts on a Sunday Afternoon

I decided to publish my usual Monday morning post this afternoon because I don't expect to have much time to post tomorrow.  We have friends coming over to help Shane put in our new back door and my world (the kitchen/dining room) will be turned upside down for the day -- maybe longer.  I think the guys will be able to get the old sliding door out and the new swinging door in within the day, but we expect some sub-flooring repairs to be necessary, and will eventually put down a new kitchen floor, so the entire project is going to take a while.  The good news is that the door and flooring were bought last summer, so except for unexpected bits and pieces, this project is already paid for.  I'll be sure to get plenty of before and after pic to post later.

So, did you all have a good weekend?  I think I may have had too much of a good weekend.  Yesterday morning was pretty uneventful for me.  While Shane ran out to meet a friend who very generously gave us a freezer he no longer uses (to replace the one that quit on us last week), I stayed home and made potato salad and homemade strawberry ice cream to take to dinner with the same friend and a few others.   We had a great evening with our friends, eating a wonderful grilled chicken dinner and playing cards, but I absolutely overindulged in both food and drink, especially the food.  I can't even remember the last time I ate so much.  By this morning my stomach was rolling.  It's mid-afternoon now and I'm just starting to feel like my usual self.

Shane must be able to handle his food and drink better than me; he's been out in the garden for several hours already.  As for me, I'm waiting to pick up Kat from an afternoon birthday party.  That, stopping by the grocery store for a few things to feed tomorrow's work crew, and paying this week's bills are the only things I have planned for the rest of my day.

Hope all of you are having a good weekend and that the recent bad weather in some areas hasn't affected you too badly.  I'll be back with a post on Tuesday.

Bi-Monthly Book Look - January/February

I thought I'd take a look at the books I read in January and February of this year.  Maybe you'll find something here you like.

I've divided them into non-fiction and fiction.  Beyond that, they are in the order they were read.

Non-Fiction

Making It - Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen
My rating: 5 of 5.  This is a great book of formulas, recipes and instructions for making homemade food, drinks, cleaners and useful objects.  I liked this book well enough that I bought a copy for myself.

Fed Up With Lunch - The School Lunch Project - Mrs. Q
My rating: 3 of 5.  A Chicago-land teacher decides to eat her school's hot lunch every day for a year, and lived to tell about it.  While interesting, the book offers little to solve the problem of the declining quality of school lunches.

Made By Hand: My Adventures in the World of Do-It-Yourself - Mark Frauenfelder
My rating: 4 out of 5.  This is one man's account of his decision to delve into the world of "makers".  Not only does he describe his own experiences, but he discusses the philosphies behind what he calls the "DIY Movement" and the value of making mistakes.  It was a fun read and as someone who has always been a do-it-yourselfer  to some extent or another (and who doesn't think of this as a "movement" at all),  it was interesting to see the processes of DIY projects from the point of view of someone who wasn't naturally called to work with his hands.


Fiction

The Heart Specialist - Claire Holden Rothman
My rating: 4 out of 5.  Historical novel about one of Canada's first female physicians.

Gone For Good - Mark Childress
My rating: 3.5 out of 5.  A 1970s rock star finds himself plane-wrecked on a tropical island, where other inhabitants include Marilyn Monroe, Amelia Earhart and other famous dead folks.

11/22/63 - Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5.  What if you could travel back in time and prevent JFK's assassination?  That would be a good thing.  Or would it?

I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive - Steve Earle
My rating: 5 of 5.  Alt-country music fans will recognize Steve Earle as a singer/songwriter; I think he does an impressive job with his first novel.  Imagine being a washed up heroin-junkie physician living with the ghost of Hank Williams.  What would it take to make you go clean?  (Coincidentally, this was the third novel in a row that included JFK among their casts of characters.  What are the chances?)

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

First the bad.  Kat has been under the weather since she woke Saturday morning.  She had headache, tummy ache and fever Saturday, then headache without fever yesterday, and tummy ache without fever today.  I think it might be a mild flu bug.  A different school district in the city closed down today because of flu, so I guess it's going around.
 

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Now the good.  Even with a sick kiddo, we managed to have a pretty nice weekend.  We got a lot done around here, but still had time to relax with some movies, a jigsaw puzzle and some reading.

Shane had an unexpected three-day weekend.  His job site was shut down on Friday because they were waiting on materials. He took advantage of the day off by working outside all day.  He tilled the soil in the raised beds and broke ground for some new beds for this year.  He tilled in some horse manure into all of those areas and also added some wood chips to some of the beds to keep the soil loose.

He disassembled part of Kat's play fort, with her permission since she has never really played on it much, and will use the parts to make who knows what.  Right now, a couple of pieces are positioned to make an a-frame lattice, but I don't know if they'll stay that way.

He spent more time outside on Saturday and Sunday, burning yard debris in the chiminea and re-working some of the ornamental beds in the front and on the sides of our house.  Nothing was planted yet, but a lot of areas were readied for both edibles and ornamentals.

As for me, over the weekend I tackled that basket of filing, did my grocery shopping, did my weekly household accounting, and I tried my hand at making 30-minute mozzarella cheese using this recipe.  That was a lot of fun.  I thought it wasn't going to work out, then all of a sudden the texture of the curds changed and there was the mozzarella.  I did learn that it's next to impossible to take photos while making cheese, but here is one of the finished product.

Homemade mozzarella.

I made a couple of very homemade pizzas for supper.   I made scratch crusts, sauce from last year's garden tomatoes, pepperoni I made from some of the venison in our freezer and topped it all with the homemade mozzarella.  I had read a couple of times that the cheese wouldn't melt right, and I can confirm that now.  It really doesn't melt at all, it just gets soft.  But oh well, it tasted good, and that's what really matters. 

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And finally, the ugly.  Here are pictures of our back yard right now.  This time of year, it's ugly, ugly, ugly, and that the weather was gloomy when I took these didn't help.  By June, though, it will be quite pretty.  Our back deck is especially ugly right now.  The rails came off when we thought we'd put a sun room there, and the plastic resin lattice we had as skirting wouldn't hold paint and kept blowing down, so we took it off. 

The plan is to put a new back door in our house (it's waiting in our garage) and then to eventually remove the deck and build a new one.  The door will go in as soon as weather and time allow, but we have no idea when the deck project will happen.  At the very least, we'll put some basic railings back on for safety's sake.

Eager to start planting.  Can hardly wait to get the camper out, too.

Wood chips and manure to be tilled in.

Tilling the raised beds.

Back yard in winter.  Anyone want to buy our old pop-up?

Junk-covered patio, wood pile, clothesline.

Our big, fat, ugly deck must go.  Rain catchment tanks off to the right of it.

So that was my weekend.  I actually enjoyed it this time. We struck a nice balance; I hope we can do that more often in the future.

What did you do this weekend?

Some Things Just Don't Matter

One thing we've learned about spending deliberately is that some things just aren't important enough to trade our money for. 

An example of something that isn't important enough to us to spend money on is our range.  It was made in 1991, but both the oven and stove-top burners still work great.  It's a gas stove and I love that.  But over the years, the plastic insert on the control panel has melted.  The oven vents out where the melted part is, so I suspect it's just a design flaw and not the fault of the previous owners.  It's pretty ugly and very hard to clean around those cracks and melted places. 

To replace just that part of the control panel is crazy expensive; I think it was around $80 when I looked into it a couple of years ago.  We think that's too much to pay for a part that just sits there and looks pretty.  We could buy a comparable brand new gas range for around $350, but there's nothing functionally wrong with the one we have, so there's no need to buy a new one.

So, here's how I solve the problem most days.

Guess what?  If we bought a new range, or even just the new control panel part, that often-used pot would probably still be sitting right there, hiding the control panel anyway.  Not to mention that the new part might just melt again. So what would be the point?

What about you?  Would you think things through before making this kind of purchase, or would you replace the part (or the entire range) without a second though? Do you have a "price point" where your decision changes?  For us, we'd probably buy the part if we could get it for $20 or less.  As for buying a whole new stove, we don't plan to until this one quits working.